Wall Street Protests: Signs of the Times

Wednesday evening, I stood outside the Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street for almost two hours watching people stream by in one of the biggest protest marches I have seen in this town, and I’ve been here a while. Some were union members who had joined the young Occupy Wall Street activists camped out in Zuccotti Park; others were students from colleges around the city; many were individuals present on their own account. (I wrote about what Keynes would have made of the protests earlier this week.) Lots of the protesters were carrying homemade signs conveying their feelings. Some of the signs were funny. Some were predictable. Some were downright bizarre. I noted down as many as I could, thinking I would try and pick out the most memorable. Here they are, roughly in the order I saw them.

(As I write this, there are reports of sporadic trouble in the Wall Street area after the main march had finished. I didn’t see any of that. From where I stood, the protest was good-natured and peaceful—festive, almost. But clearly, there is a tension within the movement between a minority that wants to confront the police and those who simply want to make their point. More on that anon. But first, the signs.)

“APATHY IS FOR ASSHOLES” “TAX WALL STREET LEECHES” “They Got a Bailout. We Got Sold Out.” “FUCK GOOGLE” “TURN WALL STREET INTO TAHRIR SQUARE” “Something has gone wrong in America. We will not be silent” “Hedge Funds Win When Pensioners Lose” “STOP ROBBING THE MIDDLE CLASS TO PAY THE RICH” “It’s my money and I need it now!” “TAX THE RICH A LOT!” “RAGING GRANNIES W/THEIR DAUGHTERS” “WALL STREET WHITE MEN YOU NO LONGER RUN THE UNIVERSE” “ARREST THE KOCH BROTHERS” “HEY BANKERS! YOU BREAK IT, YOU PAY FOR IT” “NO BONUSES FOR THE BAILED OUT” “QUICK! SELL EVERYTHING AND INVEST IN PEPPER SPRAY’ “BUY STOCKS NOT POLITICIANS” “GREED IS AN ADDICTION” “EAT THE RICH” “I AM HERE TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY” “AMERICAN NURSES SUPPORT OCCUPY WALL STREET” “FARMERS FOR CLEAN FOOD. NO GMO” “ENOUGH IT ENOUGH” “BAN FRACKING NOW” “LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF MADISON” “STOP THE CUNY TUITION HIKES” “JP MORGAN IS A KLEPTOMANIAC” “STOP REWARDING FAILURE. GOLDEN SHOWERS NOT GOLDEN PARACHUTES” “ERIC CANTOR: AMERICA’S CANCER” “THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE” “WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?” “DEVELOP YOUR EMPATHY’ “SUPPORT OUR KIDS” “FED UP? WANT CHANGE? TAKE ACTION NOW” “NOT SO FAST YOU GREEDY BASTARDS” “WHERE ARE MY TAX BREAKS?” “Capitalism is not healthy for children and other living things” “OPEN YOUR EYES. THIS IS THE REVOLUTION!” “I’m all about that 99%. BUTT!!” “OBAMA = BUSH” “I’M YOUNG EDUCATED AND ANGRY’ “Due to recent budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.” “CRIME PAYS IN THE USA, ON WALL STREET” “REGULATE MARKETS, FREE PEOPLE.’ “LISTEN TO THE WARRENS” “MARX WAS RIGHT” “BILLIONAIRES YOUR TIME IS UP” “IMPEACH OBAMA. PROTECTOR OF WALL STREET PARASITE CRIMINALS” “ANOTHER TRUST FUND BABY FOR THE REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH” “Tax and regulation irrational exuberance” “DON’T MACE ME BRO. MY MOM IS HERE” “Bankers are Cylons” “This is SO not over” “MAKE LOVE” “OCCUPY EVERYTHING” “ROBIN HOOD WAS RIGHT” “I’M A BORN-AGAIN AMERICAN” “JP MORGAN BOUGHT THE NYPD” “I AGREE” “JOIN US SAVE OUR REPUBLIC” “PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS” “WAKE UP” “IMMIGRANTS ARE THE 99%” “One Nation Under Greed” “DECOLONIZE WALL STREET’ “WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT THE FUTURE” “END SUBSIDIES TO BIG AGRICULTURE” “I’m self-employed and can’t afford healthcare. I am the 99%” “JAIL THE BANKERS” “DREAM BIG!” “They bought off Washington and gave us the TAB” “I’m just another homeless hippie living off my parents’ trust fund. Ignore me no more.” “EXPROPRIATE THE EXPROPRIATORS’ “LET THEM EAT BIG MACS” “We Know Who Our Enemies Are” “I Participate. You Participate. He Participates. We Participate. THEY PROFIT” “LESS KOCH MORE COCK” “GOLDMAN SUCKS” “READ MY LIPS: TAX THE RICH” “WELCOME BACK TO THE FIGHT. THIS TIME I KNOW OUR SIDE WILL WIN.” “GUILTY BANKERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL” “END THE FED” “GIVE MY PROFESSOR HEALTH INSURANCE” “WALL STREET BANK ROBBERS LOOT THE PUBLIC” “JESUS WAS THE 99%” “DON’T ARREST PROTESTORS” “Our politicians are the priesthood of capitalism” “BOEHNER & CANTOR: GREEDY BANKSTERS” “MY KIDS AREN’T PAYING FOR YOUR BONUS” “The Obama we thought we had elected would be here with us, not ignoring us.” “DOCTORS FOR THE 99%” “END CORPORATE FACISM” “GENTLEMEN AGAINST GREED” “YOU CAN’T FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME” “GREED IS BAD” “I’m Mad as Hell” “PROTECT THE COMMONS” “Hands off Social Security” “KICK ‘M IN THE JUNK BONDS” “SAVE A HORSE. RIDE A BANKER” “WOMEN UNITED AGAINST REPUBLICAN/TEA PARTY SCUM” “THE MIDDLE CLASS IS TOO BIG TO FAIL” “DE-PRIVATIZE DEMOCRACY” “CART WHEELS FOR JUSTICE” “Corporations are people too?” “CITIBANK CRIMINALS” “WE MARCH FOR HOPE NOT HATE” “ARE WE GOING TO LET A BUNCH OF GREEDY SELFISH FOOLS DO IN THE WHOLE PLANET?” “TEAR DOWN THIS WALL STREET” “THE MONETARY SYSTEM IS THE PROBLEM” “Give Power Back to the People” “THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED. BUT IT WILL BE LIVESTREAMED, TWEETED, YOUTUBED, AND FACEBOOKED” “WE ARE THE 99%” “HEY BANKS. STOP USING THE $s I DEPOSIT TO SCREW MY NEIGHBOR” “WISE OWLS SEEK ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL” “PUPPETEERS BEFORE PROFIT” “OBAMA. TIME TO WALK THE WALK” “MONEY FOR SCHOOLS NOT WAR” “Where is George Bailey when you need him? We’re done with Pottersville.” “WEED NOT GREED” “WORKING CLASS AND PISSED OFF” “PARADIGM SHIFT NOW” “FORECLOSE BLANKFEIN” “I OWE SALLIE MAE $25,123.91” “DROP COPS NOT BOMBS” “LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE” “I AM NOT PATRIARCHY’S BITCH” “Wall Stree: ‘The love of money is the root of all evil.’ Jesus” “TAKE THIS TEA PARTY” “WITHOUT MONEY WE’D ALL BE RICH” “CORPORATIONS ARE PSYCHOPATHS. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE” “The free market keeps giving me the invisible finger” “POWER TO THE PEACEFUL” “ ‘The most important political office is that of private citizen,’ Louis Brandeis” “BUFFET’S SECRETARY” “ARAB SPRING, WALL STREET FALL’ “Both parties are beholden to corporate $$. I want my voice back.” “STANDING UP FOR THE CHANGE WE VOTED FOR” “JOIN THE REVOLUTION” “SEX WORKERS AGAINST CAPITALISM” “FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS TAX TODAY” “USA IS NOT FOR SALE” “WARREN BUFFET IS SMARTER THAN YOU” “BILLIONS FOR BANKERS, CUTBACKS FOR WORKERS. HELL NO!” “WALL STREET NEEDS AN ENEMA. FULL OF CRAP!” “JUILLIARD STUDENTS SUPPORT OCCUPY WALL STREET” “WALL STREET HAS THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION” “THIS IS THE MOST HOPEFUL I HAVE FELT IN A LONG TIME”